coral

The ancestors of corals were found in the Ediacarian – 635ma (Fossils found in the

Flinders Ranges, Sth Australia)End of snowball Earth 2 Rise of Oxygen using Life Bloblike Animals in the sea, nothing on land. Australia Nth of Equator, Antarctica on the Equator & Amazonia at the South Pole supercontinent Rodinia collided with another continent forming the new supercontinent, Pannotia (all the continents, South Pole). Pan Africa – mountain building

In one of the Ancient Reefs like the enormous reefs over Wisconsin the corals (that had Nautiloids & Trilobites swimming about them) diverged into two groups.

One of these groups had sets of six tentacles

These became the Hexacorals

the Hexacorals split again to become the Hard Corals

soft coral jellyfish and anemones honeycomb and mushroom coral Bushy hard corals button coral

Gorgonian, flower, tree and button coral

encrusting and lettuce coral Acropora corals brain coral gorgonian, flower & tree coral pine coral